The boy went back behind the stand to put the money away and came back holding a basketball.
"Here you go! All you have to do is shoot the ball into the hoop from the 3-pointer marking. Good luck!"
Rosalie took the ball from him and stood at the marking on the ground in front of the hoop. Unlike carnival stand games where the hoop is slightly further away from the backboard, this was a legitimate 10 feet high basketball hoop that would be used in tournaments.
Rosalie held the ball in her hand and tried to remember how pro players executed their throws. With the image in mind, she turned her feet towards the hoop, bent her knees with the ball balanced in her right hand facing upwards. She took a breath, bent down, and leaped while shooting the ball towards the hoop with her arm following through the motion.
The ball flew through the air and swooshed through the net flawlessly. The boy stared at her with his mouth agape.
"That was amazing!! What's your name? Your posture and stance were perfect! Were you previously trained or in a club??"
"Uhh… My name's Rosalie, I never really joined any teams…"
"That's cool! I'm Evan, Evan Lawry. Nice to meet you! Since you got it on your first try and you're our first participant, you can get a prize and try again for free."
Evan tousled his dirty brown hair with an animated smile that reached his hazel eyes. He ran to get the ball from underneath the net.
He seemed like a cheerful guy.
Rosalie nodded and took the offer while taking the ball from him. She positioned herself in front of the net and perfectly executed the memorized movements once more.
The ball went through the net with a satisfying swoosh again.
"Woah, that was amazing. Would you like to join the co-ed basketball team? We'd love to have you!"
"No thank you, I'm not too interested in sports."
It would be too much commitment, and Rosalie was not willing to give up her morning time to go practice with sweaty people.
"That's cool! There's no need to feel pressured into joining any clubs, just be careful, some clubs are 'really' eager to recruit new members. Would you be interested in playing any of our other games? There are different prizes!"
Evan motioned towards a line up of various stuffed animals. There were bunnies, tigers, bears, and many other animals. A certain fluffy alpaca caught her eyes and a puff of laughter escaped her lips. It looked like Christophe with its eyes closed and mouth smirking smugly, pointing its head up triumphantly.
"Sure, I'll play the other ones."
Rosalie tossed a couple more coins towards Evan.
She got caught up in all the festivities and won too many prizes for a single human to need. Each game was themed around the club hosting the event and Rosalie dominated them all.
From playing chess to an archery contest, she found most of the games fairly simple to beat. Even the astrology finder game was easy for Rosalie since she once glanced over a constellation chart for a puzzle game she was into.
In the end, Rosalie carried gigantic bags full of prizes like candies and stuffed animals. She was thinking of sending some back to "Winter's". The kids would love it.
While walking through the courtyard path lined with stalls to get back to her dorm, she started to hear shouts from behind her.
"Hey! The girl with the short black hair, would you like to join the football team?!"
"Shut it jocks, she's clearly an intellectual, she should join the trivia club."
"No! She should join the chess club. If you do, we'll instantly promote you to co-chair."
"I think she belongs on the archery team."
The people were starting to get physical with each other. They were threatening and grabbing the collars of their rivals.
"Which club are you going to join?!"
Everyone turned to face Rosalie and shouted in her direction.
Rosalie had a bad feeling and instantly broke into a sprint.
"Hey! She's getting away, whoever gets her first gets to have her on their club!!"
'I never agreed to that' Rosalie thought exasperatedly.
She ran down the pathway and took a sharp turn into the shrubbery. After taking a couple of twists and turns, she lost them.
Rosalie happened upon a small clearing and took a seat on the ground to take a break. During middle school, she never joined any clubs since she didn't have much time. Back then, she would leave quickly to pick up some of the kids and watch over them.
She wasn't sure where her interests really lie, well, maybe if there was a gaming club, that may pique her interest.
A light breeze flew through the trees surrounding the clearing and softly brushed her hair. The weather was awfully nice today. The tree leaves perfectly carved out a patch of sunlight in the middle of the space and a wave of drowsiness came over Rosalie.
She crawled over to the patch of sun and laid down, using a bag of stuffed animals as a makeshift pillow. She curled up and let the warmth of the sunlight lull her to sleep.